Wanted: bounty of vegetables
January 14, 2010 11:37 AM Subscribe
What are your favorite tasty, high-yield garden vegetables?
I'm in wintertime garden planning mode and I've decided that this year I'm going to focus on growing more things that will impact our bottom line. I want to grow veggies that will taste good and give generously.
In the previous years I've taken to experimenting with dozens of varieties of vegetables in my garden. While I've found a few favorites that manage to be a good return on investment, plenty of my experiments have been a waste. I'm tired of cucumber plants that only produce three slow-growing fruits by fall, or greens that look good, but taste like pure bitterness.
My ideal answers will suggest a specific varieties (i.e. 'mortgage lifter tomato', or 'beet red ace F1'), especially anything that you've directly experienced. I also prefer to plant things that aren't found in the average grocery store, or even at the farmer's market. Tell me as much as you can about your favorites.
I'm certain that we will again be planting swiss chard, buttercrunch lettuce, zucchini, and at least six kinds of tomatoes. I also want to grow some ground cherries. Other than that, I'm open to suggestion. We can eat and cook almost everything.
I have a small urban yard that is shared with chickens who need their own space, so I would prefer to stay away from fruit trees or vines that take up a lot of ground. Other than that, we get lots of sunshine with some shade in areas, and have resident fertilizer makers. We also have several beds covering a variety of drainage conditions, and we've had good luck getting anything we try to grow to maturity. Our city is in hardiness zone 6.
I'd also love to hear tricks on how to get the most out of limited space.
previously: (1, 2, 3)
I'm in wintertime garden planning mode and I've decided that this year I'm going to focus on growing more things that will impact our bottom line. I want to grow veggies that will taste good and give generously.
In the previous years I've taken to experimenting with dozens of varieties of vegetables in my garden. While I've found a few favorites that manage to be a good return on investment, plenty of my experiments have been a waste. I'm tired of cucumber plants that only produce three slow-growing fruits by fall, or greens that look good, but taste like pure bitterness.
My ideal answers will suggest a specific varieties (i.e. 'mortgage lifter tomato', or 'beet red ace F1'), especially anything that you've directly experienced. I also prefer to plant things that aren't found in the average grocery store, or even at the farmer's market. Tell me as much as you can about your favorites.
I'm certain that we will again be planting swiss chard, buttercrunch lettuce, zucchini, and at least six kinds of tomatoes. I also want to grow some ground cherries. Other than that, I'm open to suggestion. We can eat and cook almost everything.
I have a small urban yard that is shared with chickens who need their own space, so I would prefer to stay away from fruit trees or vines that take up a lot of ground. Other than that, we get lots of sunshine with some shade in areas, and have resident fertilizer makers. We also have several beds covering a variety of drainage conditions, and we've had good luck getting anything we try to grow to maturity. Our city is in hardiness zone 6.
I'd also love to hear tricks on how to get the most out of limited space.
previously: (1, 2, 3)
You've got a lot of the big producers already. Bush type squash of the zucchini/standard yellow crookneck type, collar/mustard greens and eggplant (Black Beauty) have been big producers in my backyard-urban-garden-that-shares-space-with-chickens. We've also had good luck with beets (Chicago hybrid, I think).
Day neutral strawberries in window box type pots and blueberries (Bluejay and Bluecrop, multiple varieties is supposed to improve pollination) in large pots have also been pretty successful. The blueberries will take a couple years to start bearing fruit, but they've given us pretty good yields this year.
Landreth has some really interesting heirloom seeds, and their catalog frequently has information about the historical importance of certain varieties.
posted by electroboy at 11:52 AM on January 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
Day neutral strawberries in window box type pots and blueberries (Bluejay and Bluecrop, multiple varieties is supposed to improve pollination) in large pots have also been pretty successful. The blueberries will take a couple years to start bearing fruit, but they've given us pretty good yields this year.
Landreth has some really interesting heirloom seeds, and their catalog frequently has information about the historical importance of certain varieties.
posted by electroboy at 11:52 AM on January 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Heirloom tomatoes! Specifically, Cherokee Purple. My husband and I don't really even like tomatoes, but we can eat the Cherokee Purples almost as fast as our plants can produce them. They are wonderful on BLTs.
Herbs! Lemon grass. Thyme. Oregano. Basil. Fennel. Dill.
The Pearl cucumber is white and very tasty. You can grow cukes up a trellis and they don't need much room on the ground at all.
Fresh peas right from the garden are awesome! So sweet.
The Bright Lights variety of Swiss Chard is ornamental as well as edible.
Amaranth! Highly ornamental, but you can also eat the leaves and grind the seeds into flour.
Hops if you have any interest in homebrewing.
Kale - you can make Kale Chips in your oven that are a good substitute for potato chips.
"Purple Haze" and "Yellowstone" carrots. The purple ones are so pretty.
Rosemary in a container so you can bring it inside in the winter. I have a 3' rosemary bush and it's great - you can use the stems to make flavorful kabobs on the grill.
Sunflowers are pretty and good food for the wildlife.
Garlic is fun tow grow, but you need to plant that in the fall. Youc an cut off the garlic scapes in the spring and use them in stir fries.
How about some perennial veggies, like aspargus and rhubarb?
posted by Ostara at 11:52 AM on January 14, 2010 [4 favorites]
Herbs! Lemon grass. Thyme. Oregano. Basil. Fennel. Dill.
The Pearl cucumber is white and very tasty. You can grow cukes up a trellis and they don't need much room on the ground at all.
Fresh peas right from the garden are awesome! So sweet.
The Bright Lights variety of Swiss Chard is ornamental as well as edible.
Amaranth! Highly ornamental, but you can also eat the leaves and grind the seeds into flour.
Hops if you have any interest in homebrewing.
Kale - you can make Kale Chips in your oven that are a good substitute for potato chips.
"Purple Haze" and "Yellowstone" carrots. The purple ones are so pretty.
Rosemary in a container so you can bring it inside in the winter. I have a 3' rosemary bush and it's great - you can use the stems to make flavorful kabobs on the grill.
Sunflowers are pretty and good food for the wildlife.
Garlic is fun tow grow, but you need to plant that in the fall. Youc an cut off the garlic scapes in the spring and use them in stir fries.
How about some perennial veggies, like aspargus and rhubarb?
posted by Ostara at 11:52 AM on January 14, 2010 [4 favorites]
Definitely order the paper catalog from Landreth. It's a really good read.
posted by electroboy at 11:53 AM on January 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by electroboy at 11:53 AM on January 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
Squash are lovely because you can eat the blossoms and the squash themselves. I also love peas because they are so expensive in the store (fresh peas, that is) and growing them yourself is cheaper and tastier. I highly recommend this book: The Bountiful Container, which focuses on gardening for the purpose of eating. It gives you a comprehensive look at what the various requirements are for all kinds of things you can grow and eat (including flowers!). I really learned a lot from this book and have frequently given it as a gift.
posted by tractorfeed at 11:54 AM on January 14, 2010
posted by tractorfeed at 11:54 AM on January 14, 2010
Tomatillos! We only had two little plants and ended up harvesting POUNDS of tomatillos. They were simple to grow and harvest. Make your own green salsa or my favorite is "taco soup" aka pozole.
posted by J-Garr at 12:01 PM on January 14, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by J-Garr at 12:01 PM on January 14, 2010 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Last year expecting to get enough for a few meals, I accidentally grew 55 pounds of sunchokes in a 4'x4' space. Fresh garbanzos are amazing but not very space efficient, to get enough for 4 servings of falafel every few weeks it takes about a dozen plants. Padron peppers are delicious and relatively high yielding, same goes for friarielli peppers. Cranberry beans are good both fresh and dried and they'll climb up pretty much anything so you don't need to give them much space on the ground. Most varieties of haricot vert are prolific producers and take very little space.
I grow a lot of stuff either because it's hard to find or because I want to use parts of the plant that aren't easily purchased. Rau ram, zaatar (Origanum syriacum not maru), nepitella, curry leaf, kaffir limes, green garlic, tarbais beans, and fresh shallots are all hard to find. Green coriander seed, fresh parsley seed, chive blossoms, and rosemary flowers are just generally unavailable.
Other things just make sense to fill in spaces in the seasons. Fava greens taste like spinach but grow better for me during the cold season. Rau ram doesn't go to seed during the summer heat and tastes enough like cilantro to be a good substitute.
Every couple of years I remember to order all sorts of random stuff from these guys. They charge 35 cents for a sample seed packet but the sample size is perfect for a small garden.
posted by foodgeek at 12:07 PM on January 14, 2010 [3 favorites]
I grow a lot of stuff either because it's hard to find or because I want to use parts of the plant that aren't easily purchased. Rau ram, zaatar (Origanum syriacum not maru), nepitella, curry leaf, kaffir limes, green garlic, tarbais beans, and fresh shallots are all hard to find. Green coriander seed, fresh parsley seed, chive blossoms, and rosemary flowers are just generally unavailable.
Other things just make sense to fill in spaces in the seasons. Fava greens taste like spinach but grow better for me during the cold season. Rau ram doesn't go to seed during the summer heat and tastes enough like cilantro to be a good substitute.
Every couple of years I remember to order all sorts of random stuff from these guys. They charge 35 cents for a sample seed packet but the sample size is perfect for a small garden.
posted by foodgeek at 12:07 PM on January 14, 2010 [3 favorites]
For getting the most out of limited space, growing tomatoes up ropes can be more productive than tomato cages.
posted by carlh at 12:15 PM on January 14, 2010
posted by carlh at 12:15 PM on January 14, 2010
A few that have produced well per unit area in our garden (I won't recommend varieties, because we are in a very different climate):
bush beans
sugar and snow peas (very space efficient if you have can grow climbing varieties)
beets (especially so if you eat the greens (and then you need little to no chard))
mustard greens (mizuna)
spinach
kohlrabi
and of course, lettuce, chard, zucchini, tomatoes, and potatoes.
If you want to maximize yields per unit area, at the expense of possibly a little more work in initial weeding and possibly smaller individual veggies, you should plant seeds much closer together than the seed packet recommends. Think in grids, rather than rows. You can find spacing recommendations for square-foot gardening online and use those (but you don't need to do all the fancy soil prep that they recommend) as long as you have plenty of sun and nutrient-rich soil. For greens like spinach, you can initially thin the plants to twice your desired final density and eat every second plant as baby greens. If you really want to make the most of your space, you can start interplanting. Water infrequently, but heavily, to encourage deep roots to make the best use of your limited surface area (you can also plant tomato starts deeply, removing lower leaves, to encourage deep rooting).
posted by ssg at 12:18 PM on January 14, 2010
bush beans
sugar and snow peas (very space efficient if you have can grow climbing varieties)
beets (especially so if you eat the greens (and then you need little to no chard))
mustard greens (mizuna)
spinach
kohlrabi
and of course, lettuce, chard, zucchini, tomatoes, and potatoes.
If you want to maximize yields per unit area, at the expense of possibly a little more work in initial weeding and possibly smaller individual veggies, you should plant seeds much closer together than the seed packet recommends. Think in grids, rather than rows. You can find spacing recommendations for square-foot gardening online and use those (but you don't need to do all the fancy soil prep that they recommend) as long as you have plenty of sun and nutrient-rich soil. For greens like spinach, you can initially thin the plants to twice your desired final density and eat every second plant as baby greens. If you really want to make the most of your space, you can start interplanting. Water infrequently, but heavily, to encourage deep roots to make the best use of your limited surface area (you can also plant tomato starts deeply, removing lower leaves, to encourage deep rooting).
posted by ssg at 12:18 PM on January 14, 2010
Green beans were easy and plentiful in my garden this year. Eggplant was easy and fun. We had tons of basil, but the cilantro wasn't as plentiful. My neighbor had the same experience with cucumbers last year, not many to eat!
posted by raisingsand at 12:22 PM on January 14, 2010
posted by raisingsand at 12:22 PM on January 14, 2010
Garlic. No specific varieties to recommend - I just plant the stuff on the counter that we lost track of and haven't managed to use before it sprouts.
Bush beans. Again, I have no specific varieties to recommend, since I can't remember what I planted.. but resources abound.
Try building a potato box... I haven't tried it, but it's in my plan for the upcoming season and boy, it looks exciting! If it's a success this year with whatever variety I choose, I know I'll build another two next year. I'd love to have a year's stock of yukon golds, baby reds and some oddball heirloom.
Also, sunflowers are great for making use of hard to get to pain-in-the-ass areas of your yard!
I've had terrible success with corn and onions. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but I'm doing it very well. No more of those for my garden.
posted by terpia at 12:23 PM on January 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
Bush beans. Again, I have no specific varieties to recommend, since I can't remember what I planted.. but resources abound.
Try building a potato box... I haven't tried it, but it's in my plan for the upcoming season and boy, it looks exciting! If it's a success this year with whatever variety I choose, I know I'll build another two next year. I'd love to have a year's stock of yukon golds, baby reds and some oddball heirloom.
Also, sunflowers are great for making use of hard to get to pain-in-the-ass areas of your yard!
I've had terrible success with corn and onions. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but I'm doing it very well. No more of those for my garden.
posted by terpia at 12:23 PM on January 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I know you said you didn't have good results with cucumbers. However, I plant the Northern Pickling Cucumber and it is a good producer. These cucumbers are smaller than the ones you get at the grocery. They grow much faster and are tasty both fresh and pickled.
Last year, we planted the Oregon Giant Pea. It produced nearly all summer long and we got pounds and pounds of this wonderful, sweet and tender snow peas. They need to climb and just kept producing more and more blooms as we harvested each round of pea pods. We're definitely planting these again and may increase the plants by 50% this year.
The Chioggia Beet is always going to be in my garden. They're not too large and are nearly candy sweet when roasted. They're so pretty too. We harvested these in three waves last year.
Another that we'll definitely do again is the Purple Plum Radish. Radishes are very fast growers. We've had some that just got woody and stalky without producing a good root. This was not true with the Purple Plums. They were consistently juicy and had a good peppery bite to them. We did let a few go to seed and harvested their seed for this year's planting.
The Kurota Carrots we planted were slow growers, but worth the wait. They produced SO much that I think we had about a 90% yield from the seeds we planted. Again, we harvested in waves and I still have some of the last harvest on hand and will probably cook them up tonight.
We also planted a sweet pepper that was a good producer. I didn't get it from Seeds of change and don't see something similar. It was like a banana pepper. I think this year I'll try this pepper instead.
posted by onhazier at 12:26 PM on January 14, 2010 [2 favorites]
Last year, we planted the Oregon Giant Pea. It produced nearly all summer long and we got pounds and pounds of this wonderful, sweet and tender snow peas. They need to climb and just kept producing more and more blooms as we harvested each round of pea pods. We're definitely planting these again and may increase the plants by 50% this year.
The Chioggia Beet is always going to be in my garden. They're not too large and are nearly candy sweet when roasted. They're so pretty too. We harvested these in three waves last year.
Another that we'll definitely do again is the Purple Plum Radish. Radishes are very fast growers. We've had some that just got woody and stalky without producing a good root. This was not true with the Purple Plums. They were consistently juicy and had a good peppery bite to them. We did let a few go to seed and harvested their seed for this year's planting.
The Kurota Carrots we planted were slow growers, but worth the wait. They produced SO much that I think we had about a 90% yield from the seeds we planted. Again, we harvested in waves and I still have some of the last harvest on hand and will probably cook them up tonight.
We also planted a sweet pepper that was a good producer. I didn't get it from Seeds of change and don't see something similar. It was like a banana pepper. I think this year I'll try this pepper instead.
posted by onhazier at 12:26 PM on January 14, 2010 [2 favorites]
I've gardened for many years, but only recently branched out into lettuces and other greens like spinach and chard. Man, why'd I wait so long? Our main gardening area is only about 70 square feet, and we grow way more lettuce than we can consume, for very little work. In our climate, this is a spring and fall crop; as the weather warms, we plant our tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers amongst the lettuces, which then die just as the other plants are getting big enough to compete for space and light.
Fresh lettuce is way better than the stuff from the store, and lasts for weeks in the refrigerator. Now, "way better" is, indeed, a comparitive statement. I've never been, you know, blown away by some particularly good spinach. But the low level of effort and non-competition with our bigger-ticket items make it very worthwhile to grow some leafy greens.
posted by MrMoonPie at 12:40 PM on January 14, 2010
Fresh lettuce is way better than the stuff from the store, and lasts for weeks in the refrigerator. Now, "way better" is, indeed, a comparitive statement. I've never been, you know, blown away by some particularly good spinach. But the low level of effort and non-competition with our bigger-ticket items make it very worthwhile to grow some leafy greens.
posted by MrMoonPie at 12:40 PM on January 14, 2010
Here in Southern California, hot peppers of all varieties will produce well in a full-sun area. Jalapenos and Hungarian wax peppers did well for my neighbor.
posted by slow graffiti at 12:43 PM on January 14, 2010
posted by slow graffiti at 12:43 PM on January 14, 2010
Basil. Variety is mostly irrelevant, but planting a bunch in between your other plants will keep you in pesto all year.
posted by electroboy at 12:56 PM on January 14, 2010
posted by electroboy at 12:56 PM on January 14, 2010
Best answer: If you have any space at all for perennials, plant a couple of raspberries. After one year to get going, the raspberry canes I planted are giving me 7 or 8 pints of raspberries a summer (I freeze a lot of them) with almost no work for upkeep other than an annual pruning in the spring. And you don't even *have* to prune - it just keeps them from taking over. These will also work in your shady areas.
I've also had a lot of success with joi choi - not sure if it's too bitter for you or not (it is a bitter green), but it grows very well, produces good leaves and survives a no-holding-back harvest. I use the baby leaves in the spring in salads and then cook them with some soy sauce and sesame oil in the summer, then finally freeze a bunch to add to lasagnas in the fall before the first hard frost. (They will, however, survive light frosts, so you don't even need to do the final harvest until temperatures get down to -7 C overnight - perhaps not even an issue in your climate!) I'm considering growing some in a cold frame this year just to see how long it will survive.
Spinach, in my view, is a waste of space because it goes to seed so fast you hardly have time eat much of it.
The easiest and highest producing beet variety I've tried is the classic Detroit Red.
posted by Kurichina at 1:00 PM on January 14, 2010
I've also had a lot of success with joi choi - not sure if it's too bitter for you or not (it is a bitter green), but it grows very well, produces good leaves and survives a no-holding-back harvest. I use the baby leaves in the spring in salads and then cook them with some soy sauce and sesame oil in the summer, then finally freeze a bunch to add to lasagnas in the fall before the first hard frost. (They will, however, survive light frosts, so you don't even need to do the final harvest until temperatures get down to -7 C overnight - perhaps not even an issue in your climate!) I'm considering growing some in a cold frame this year just to see how long it will survive.
Spinach, in my view, is a waste of space because it goes to seed so fast you hardly have time eat much of it.
The easiest and highest producing beet variety I've tried is the classic Detroit Red.
posted by Kurichina at 1:00 PM on January 14, 2010
pole / runner beans seem obvious - prolific (if you harvest continually) and low footprint (if you grow them vertically). I like kentucky wonder and dragon's breath. If you like growing weird veggies, dragon's breath are pretty good - purple beans with green stripes that turn white when cooked.
pumpkins are prolific and can be grown vertically if you have the support structure. I like new england pie for a small, sweet pumpkin that is great for pumpkin pie (I have grown this one vertically before. I grew in 5 gallon containers and limited the fruit set to one per vine).
If you're looking to affect your bottom line and you like to cook, it's hard to beat herbs. A herb patch might fill out some of your shadier (but not fully shaded) patches. Basil would complement your tomatoes well, and thyme for your chickens (assuming you have some meat birds).
posted by aquafiend at 1:03 PM on January 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
pumpkins are prolific and can be grown vertically if you have the support structure. I like new england pie for a small, sweet pumpkin that is great for pumpkin pie (I have grown this one vertically before. I grew in 5 gallon containers and limited the fruit set to one per vine).
If you're looking to affect your bottom line and you like to cook, it's hard to beat herbs. A herb patch might fill out some of your shadier (but not fully shaded) patches. Basil would complement your tomatoes well, and thyme for your chickens (assuming you have some meat birds).
posted by aquafiend at 1:03 PM on January 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
Echoing MrMoonPie's comment, with a particular recommendation of arugula.
If I'm reading my hardiness zone map right, I'm way north of you on semi-arid Canadian prairie and I've killed mint (!) from my ineptitude, and arugula and other greens of that sort grow well with more-than-we-can-eat yield here with basically zero tending. One summer we were away for most of the early part of the growing season and still came back to healthy delicious plants, some of which had self-seeded for a second late-summer crop.
posted by gompa at 1:26 PM on January 14, 2010
If I'm reading my hardiness zone map right, I'm way north of you on semi-arid Canadian prairie and I've killed mint (!) from my ineptitude, and arugula and other greens of that sort grow well with more-than-we-can-eat yield here with basically zero tending. One summer we were away for most of the early part of the growing season and still came back to healthy delicious plants, some of which had self-seeded for a second late-summer crop.
posted by gompa at 1:26 PM on January 14, 2010
Best answer: Tall Telephone peas – the tallest growing pea vine and a great producer! Many pea varieties grow to only 2 feet whereas this one can grow up to 6 feet! That’s a lot of pea vine in a small amount of space. Also, pea plants fix nitrogen in the soil (as do beans), making it a great location for any rotated crop next year. Make sure to start these early.
Cherokee Trail of Tears pole bean – great tasting, very productive and come true to type. Which means, if you want to save seeds, they’ll be exact replicas of the original plant. All seeds are jet black, so if you have any off-colored ones, you know that particular seed has been crossed and won’t come back true to type.
Boothby’s Blonde cucumber – yellowy cukes that flourished in our garden. Ended up having to give bags away to the local restaurant because we got so tired of them.
Red Ursa kale – My first year growing kale last year and this one was great. Not that I knew what to do with kale which meant that vegetarian friends got a lot of the produce. They did tell me it was delicious.
Lettuce and Greens – I’ll just give you a list of our favourites: Freckles Speckled Trout, Red Deer Tongue, Lolla Rossa, Red Oak Leaf, Black Seeded Simpson, Bronze Arrow, Mizuna, Red Giant, Persian Broadleaf Cress, Sylvetta, Osaka Purple.
Detroit Dark Red beets – deep red beets have always done well in my garden. Great for pickling!
Indeterminate tomatoes (again, a list): Mexico Midget (red currant), Black Cherry (black cherry), Earl’s Faux (pink beefsteak), Goose Creek (red globe), Jaune Flamee (orange cherry), Green Zebra (bi-coloured globe), Stupice (early red globe), Sungold F1 (orange cherry), Anna Russian (red heart), Cuostralee (red beef), Galina (yellow cherry).
Helenor rutabaga – huge roots and tasty! We’re big on mashed rutabaga so we always make sure there’s some of this in the garden.
Dill – Pretty much any kind – I’ve got Bouquet, Mammoth, Dukat. If you let at least one plant go to seed you’ll have volunteer dill plants next year.
RE: bitter greens. Try picking them when they’re young and they won’t be so bitter.
I have a small 8’x16’ garden at home and a larger one out at the inlaws house. I had to get really creative before I got the second garden.
-Use concrete reinforcement mesh tied to t-bars to use as supportive trellises for your tomatoes, cucumbers, peas and beans. Heck, I once grew a Waltham Butternut squash vertically (just had to sling it in some pantyhose when it started to get heavy).
-Intersperse your herbs in your flower beds, especially the perennial herbs like Italian Flat Leaf parsley and garlic chives. I loved having different basils here and there, especially when they flowered (my favourite is Genovese for pesto). Oh, and rhubarb (super prolific in a sunny area) is the bomb when mixed with strawberries in pies and jam.
-Grow more globe-, pear-, plum-, cherry-sized tomatoes instead of all beefsteaks, which take longer to mature. Also, grow indeterminate tomatoes (meaning they vine and have to be trellised) as they give fruit throughout the season instead of determinate tomatoes which fruit once over a shorter period.
-If you grow broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower or Brussels sprouts (and only if you love them because they are space hogs), be sure to cover with remay cloth to keep out those annoying white butterflies (can’t think of the name). They’ll chew up the leaves and kill the plant before harvest.
-Plant your lettuce in your shady area and they’ll be slower to bolt in the heat of summer. Re-sow seeds every two weeks for a steady supply.
-Look at things that will extend your growing season like frost covers and cold frames. Try winter sowing to reduce the cost of starting seeds indoors and grow hardier plants sooner with extensive root systems.
And, FYI, I suck at growing eggplant, peppers (hot and sweet), melon and onions. YMMV.
Oh, mefi mail me if you want an automatic seed start chart if you’re going to be doing all your plants from seed. You just have to type in your first and last frost dates and it’ll calculate out the dates when you sow indoors, transplant, direct sow and harvest stuff. It’ll also calculate repeat sowings for a steady supply throughout the season as well as fall harvest crops.
posted by KathyK at 1:32 PM on January 14, 2010 [2 favorites]
Cherokee Trail of Tears pole bean – great tasting, very productive and come true to type. Which means, if you want to save seeds, they’ll be exact replicas of the original plant. All seeds are jet black, so if you have any off-colored ones, you know that particular seed has been crossed and won’t come back true to type.
Boothby’s Blonde cucumber – yellowy cukes that flourished in our garden. Ended up having to give bags away to the local restaurant because we got so tired of them.
Red Ursa kale – My first year growing kale last year and this one was great. Not that I knew what to do with kale which meant that vegetarian friends got a lot of the produce. They did tell me it was delicious.
Lettuce and Greens – I’ll just give you a list of our favourites: Freckles Speckled Trout, Red Deer Tongue, Lolla Rossa, Red Oak Leaf, Black Seeded Simpson, Bronze Arrow, Mizuna, Red Giant, Persian Broadleaf Cress, Sylvetta, Osaka Purple.
Detroit Dark Red beets – deep red beets have always done well in my garden. Great for pickling!
Indeterminate tomatoes (again, a list): Mexico Midget (red currant), Black Cherry (black cherry), Earl’s Faux (pink beefsteak), Goose Creek (red globe), Jaune Flamee (orange cherry), Green Zebra (bi-coloured globe), Stupice (early red globe), Sungold F1 (orange cherry), Anna Russian (red heart), Cuostralee (red beef), Galina (yellow cherry).
Helenor rutabaga – huge roots and tasty! We’re big on mashed rutabaga so we always make sure there’s some of this in the garden.
Dill – Pretty much any kind – I’ve got Bouquet, Mammoth, Dukat. If you let at least one plant go to seed you’ll have volunteer dill plants next year.
RE: bitter greens. Try picking them when they’re young and they won’t be so bitter.
I have a small 8’x16’ garden at home and a larger one out at the inlaws house. I had to get really creative before I got the second garden.
-Use concrete reinforcement mesh tied to t-bars to use as supportive trellises for your tomatoes, cucumbers, peas and beans. Heck, I once grew a Waltham Butternut squash vertically (just had to sling it in some pantyhose when it started to get heavy).
-Intersperse your herbs in your flower beds, especially the perennial herbs like Italian Flat Leaf parsley and garlic chives. I loved having different basils here and there, especially when they flowered (my favourite is Genovese for pesto). Oh, and rhubarb (super prolific in a sunny area) is the bomb when mixed with strawberries in pies and jam.
-Grow more globe-, pear-, plum-, cherry-sized tomatoes instead of all beefsteaks, which take longer to mature. Also, grow indeterminate tomatoes (meaning they vine and have to be trellised) as they give fruit throughout the season instead of determinate tomatoes which fruit once over a shorter period.
-If you grow broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower or Brussels sprouts (and only if you love them because they are space hogs), be sure to cover with remay cloth to keep out those annoying white butterflies (can’t think of the name). They’ll chew up the leaves and kill the plant before harvest.
-Plant your lettuce in your shady area and they’ll be slower to bolt in the heat of summer. Re-sow seeds every two weeks for a steady supply.
-Look at things that will extend your growing season like frost covers and cold frames. Try winter sowing to reduce the cost of starting seeds indoors and grow hardier plants sooner with extensive root systems.
And, FYI, I suck at growing eggplant, peppers (hot and sweet), melon and onions. YMMV.
Oh, mefi mail me if you want an automatic seed start chart if you’re going to be doing all your plants from seed. You just have to type in your first and last frost dates and it’ll calculate out the dates when you sow indoors, transplant, direct sow and harvest stuff. It’ll also calculate repeat sowings for a steady supply throughout the season as well as fall harvest crops.
posted by KathyK at 1:32 PM on January 14, 2010 [2 favorites]
Echoing what others have said about kale and other greens - remember that you can eat beet greens too (delicious steamed in soup).
Burgundy Bush Beans (sometimes call 'royal') are beautiful - they're purple, on a purple-stemmed plant (they cook up dark green), and incredibly prolific. I'm on the other side of the country, but once we start harvesting, we get beans for over a month from these plants - and they are yummy.
Look for local county Extension Agent (they work through your state's Land Grant/Ag University), they always have excellent programs and literature to tell you what works in your area. See if they sponsor a Master Gardener program, if so, that program should offer clinics and such in your area. There may also be another local gardening group (along the lines of Seattle Tilth) that could help you out - pea patch gardeners (if they exist) could also be helpful. As you've just seen, gardeners are a helpful bunch!
posted by dbmcd at 1:56 PM on January 14, 2010
Burgundy Bush Beans (sometimes call 'royal') are beautiful - they're purple, on a purple-stemmed plant (they cook up dark green), and incredibly prolific. I'm on the other side of the country, but once we start harvesting, we get beans for over a month from these plants - and they are yummy.
Look for local county Extension Agent (they work through your state's Land Grant/Ag University), they always have excellent programs and literature to tell you what works in your area. See if they sponsor a Master Gardener program, if so, that program should offer clinics and such in your area. There may also be another local gardening group (along the lines of Seattle Tilth) that could help you out - pea patch gardeners (if they exist) could also be helpful. As you've just seen, gardeners are a helpful bunch!
posted by dbmcd at 1:56 PM on January 14, 2010
Peppers. Especially hot peppers. Seems like every time I turn around I have a new crop to pick.
And oregano. Obnoxiously hardy and prolific. Pretty much proves the theory that herbs are just weeds that people decided were good to eat.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:59 PM on January 14, 2010
And oregano. Obnoxiously hardy and prolific. Pretty much proves the theory that herbs are just weeds that people decided were good to eat.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:59 PM on January 14, 2010
Butternut squash. Plants produce pretty generously and the squash keeps well for quite a while.
posted by dilettante at 2:11 PM on January 14, 2010
posted by dilettante at 2:11 PM on January 14, 2010
And the offer is open to anyone who wants the file. Cheers!
posted by KathyK at 2:55 PM on January 14, 2010
posted by KathyK at 2:55 PM on January 14, 2010
Best answer: You can grow Zucchini Rampicante (a.k.a. Tromboncino Squash) up a string trellis tied to the side of a house or a fence, so that it takes up a very small footprint for a lot of vegetables. This is what mine looked like last summer: 1, 2, 3. Some of the squash ended up about two feet long. They're good keepers too; you can leave them out on your counter or on the vine for weeks and weeks.
posted by Asparagirl at 6:46 PM on January 14, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by Asparagirl at 6:46 PM on January 14, 2010 [2 favorites]
Best answer: oh, hell yes! it's seed catalog season. i've been going through my baker creek seed catalog marking way too many seeds i NEED!
to answer your question: you can grow lettuce, but if your zone 6 is like our zone 6 (st. louis MO), it has to be out of the garden by about mid-may or it will be bitter/bolt. two ways to approach this are
1) start a bunch of teeny tiny lettuces inside; as soon as you can poke holes in the soil/handle the tiny lettuces, put them out in the garden (some consider valentine's day to be The Right Date, but it's been variable for me). these little lettuces will seem lost in the garden and won't do much for some time, but don't despair; they are sending down roots so that the minute the weather is warm for more than three days in a row, they will explode in growth.
2) plant lettuces late in the fall--mid to late september, just so they'll have a chance to get up above the ground; choose varieties that are cold tolerant. when it starts to get cold, loosely rake some leaves over them; in the spring, when it just begins to warm up (three days in a row in the low 40's), pull the leaves off and the little guys will explode with growth.
it helps to grow your own lettuce seed--just let one plant bolt--so that over time it gets acclimated to your site; i've got green oak leaf and deer tongue that i've grown from my own seed for probably eight years now.
also in the way of greens, i've had great success with giant red mustard and kyona mizuna. just a couple plants of each provide lots of continuously-harvestable salad greens. added to a salad, the red mustard adds quite the nice zing and the mizuna adds variety of texture as well as some loft.
i would also suggest you get ahold of some egyptian walking onions. they need a bed set aside for them and some management, but are a prolific perennial non-bulbing green onion that happily divides and multiplies and then replants its top sets all over if not controlled. one could also use the sets cooked or in salads as well. one or two original plants will give you all the little green onions you need after a couple seasons.
finally, i encourage you to grow nasturtiums. you can plant them in between other plants and let them vine all over. they are beautiful and tasty--leaves, buds, flowers, green seed pods--and are satisfying in an indescribable way.
one of my big inspirations in the realm of gardening has been The Complete Kitchen Garden--but then, i like pretty pictures! Square Foot Gardening has also been inspirational.
posted by miss patrish at 8:13 PM on January 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
to answer your question: you can grow lettuce, but if your zone 6 is like our zone 6 (st. louis MO), it has to be out of the garden by about mid-may or it will be bitter/bolt. two ways to approach this are
1) start a bunch of teeny tiny lettuces inside; as soon as you can poke holes in the soil/handle the tiny lettuces, put them out in the garden (some consider valentine's day to be The Right Date, but it's been variable for me). these little lettuces will seem lost in the garden and won't do much for some time, but don't despair; they are sending down roots so that the minute the weather is warm for more than three days in a row, they will explode in growth.
2) plant lettuces late in the fall--mid to late september, just so they'll have a chance to get up above the ground; choose varieties that are cold tolerant. when it starts to get cold, loosely rake some leaves over them; in the spring, when it just begins to warm up (three days in a row in the low 40's), pull the leaves off and the little guys will explode with growth.
it helps to grow your own lettuce seed--just let one plant bolt--so that over time it gets acclimated to your site; i've got green oak leaf and deer tongue that i've grown from my own seed for probably eight years now.
also in the way of greens, i've had great success with giant red mustard and kyona mizuna. just a couple plants of each provide lots of continuously-harvestable salad greens. added to a salad, the red mustard adds quite the nice zing and the mizuna adds variety of texture as well as some loft.
i would also suggest you get ahold of some egyptian walking onions. they need a bed set aside for them and some management, but are a prolific perennial non-bulbing green onion that happily divides and multiplies and then replants its top sets all over if not controlled. one could also use the sets cooked or in salads as well. one or two original plants will give you all the little green onions you need after a couple seasons.
finally, i encourage you to grow nasturtiums. you can plant them in between other plants and let them vine all over. they are beautiful and tasty--leaves, buds, flowers, green seed pods--and are satisfying in an indescribable way.
one of my big inspirations in the realm of gardening has been The Complete Kitchen Garden--but then, i like pretty pictures! Square Foot Gardening has also been inspirational.
posted by miss patrish at 8:13 PM on January 14, 2010 [1 favorite]
Well, gosh, I think most everything I was going to mention has been mentioned already. I'd strongly second tromboncino squash, which will grow up a trellis, back down the other side, meander across the yard for a ways, then up something else! They really do go and go and go.
I've also been fond of Sungold (orange) and Sweet Million (red) cherry tomatoes, which are both very sweet, heavy long-season producers. I dry huge amounts of them in the oven and use them all winter long in salads.
Simpson Elite is my favorite lettuce, blue lake for pole beans, and I've found bok choi to be very easy to grow and highly versatile.
posted by drlith at 8:58 PM on January 14, 2010
I've also been fond of Sungold (orange) and Sweet Million (red) cherry tomatoes, which are both very sweet, heavy long-season producers. I dry huge amounts of them in the oven and use them all winter long in salads.
Simpson Elite is my favorite lettuce, blue lake for pole beans, and I've found bok choi to be very easy to grow and highly versatile.
posted by drlith at 8:58 PM on January 14, 2010
Response by poster: Okay, I put together a preliminary garden plan today. There are some great suggestions here that I think I'm going to try:
Sunchokes
Haricot beans or Cherokee Trail of Tears pole bean
Burgundy Bush Beans
Northern Pickling Cucumber
Pearl Cucumber or Boothby’s Blonde cucumber
Tall Telephone peas
Oregon Giant pea
Cherokee Purple tomatoes
Detroit Dark Red beets or Chioggia beets
Zucchini Rampicante/Tromboncino squash (though I am scared)
Giant Red mustard
and
Strawberries offered by a generous local Mefite
Repeats from last year are going to be:
Sungold Tomatoes
Great White Beefsteak Tomatoes
Early Girl Tomatoes
Buttercrunch Lettuce
Bright Lights Swiss Chard
Mexican Sour Gherkin
Basil (Lettuce Leaf, Thai, Sweet, Genovese)
Mint (Apple, Pineapple, Spearmint, Peppermint)
Chives
Dukat Dill
Bee Balm
Lavender
Lastly, I think I'm going to do a hedgerow of corn (variety TBD) and Goldrush sunflowers in the front yard. Oh, and lots and lots of ground cherries.
And, yes, the 35 cent seed packs at Artistic Gardens are the best. I think over the past six or seven years I've ordered everything at least once. Of course, the impulse to order one of everything is my problem with seed catalogs in general and the reason I decided to post this question in the first place.
posted by Alison at 8:41 AM on January 16, 2010 [4 favorites]
Sunchokes
Haricot beans or Cherokee Trail of Tears pole bean
Burgundy Bush Beans
Northern Pickling Cucumber
Pearl Cucumber or Boothby’s Blonde cucumber
Tall Telephone peas
Oregon Giant pea
Cherokee Purple tomatoes
Detroit Dark Red beets or Chioggia beets
Zucchini Rampicante/Tromboncino squash (though I am scared)
Giant Red mustard
and
Strawberries offered by a generous local Mefite
Repeats from last year are going to be:
Sungold Tomatoes
Great White Beefsteak Tomatoes
Early Girl Tomatoes
Buttercrunch Lettuce
Bright Lights Swiss Chard
Mexican Sour Gherkin
Basil (Lettuce Leaf, Thai, Sweet, Genovese)
Mint (Apple, Pineapple, Spearmint, Peppermint)
Chives
Dukat Dill
Bee Balm
Lavender
Lastly, I think I'm going to do a hedgerow of corn (variety TBD) and Goldrush sunflowers in the front yard. Oh, and lots and lots of ground cherries.
And, yes, the 35 cent seed packs at Artistic Gardens are the best. I think over the past six or seven years I've ordered everything at least once. Of course, the impulse to order one of everything is my problem with seed catalogs in general and the reason I decided to post this question in the first place.
posted by Alison at 8:41 AM on January 16, 2010 [4 favorites]
I don't know much about gardening yet, but you asked for tips for small spaces, so perhaps it's worth mentioning permaculture - a lot of that is about high-density food yields. I understand it generally requires chickens, so you're partway there already.
posted by 8k at 11:28 PM on January 30, 2010
posted by 8k at 11:28 PM on January 30, 2010
Response by poster: Hey Metafilter gardeners!
I'm transitioning from spring to summer crops right now, so I thought I would check in and let you know how everything in growing. I really want to thank everyone for their suggestions; I've been feeding my household for about a month on spring veggies. We're replacing some concrete, so I've had to move some of my beds and tear up the front yard for extra room. Still, I think I'm growing more than ever.
I couldn't find some of the suggestions above, or found them only sold in one place that wanted to charge an arm and a leg for shipping. Still, I purchased more than half and managed to get them while staying within my budget, though I am bummed about not having my own sunchokes.
Also, I couldn't get Tall Telephone peas or Oregon Giant peas, so instead I planted the fast maturing Alaska pea, and I couldn't be more pleased. The peas are tasty, fast-growing and prolific. I pull enough to make a meal nearly every day from a 2.5' by 2' plot. They're starting to die out now that it is getting hot, so the Romano Purpliat and Cherokee Trail of Tears pole beans I planted underneath are starting to take over.
Here's what I have planted Veggie-wise:
Sugarbaby Watermelon
Artichokes
Brussels Sprouts
White Queen Corn
Early and Often Corn
Zucchini Rampicante
Champagne Raspberries (still just a stick with leaves, though)
Huckleberry
Aunt Molly's Ground Cherry
Strawberries from a generous Mefite (Thanks!)
Oak Leaf Lettuce
Buttercrunch Lettuce
Japanese Mustard Greens
Swiss Chard
Alaska Peas
Romano Purpliat Bean
Cherokee Trail of Tears Pole Bean
Chiogga Beets
Boothe's Blonde Cucumber
Orient Express Cucumber
Dwarf Sunflowers
Garlic
Onions (red and yellow)
As for herbs:
Chives
Chocolate Mint
Spearmint
Peppermint
Lavender
Parsley
Cilantro
Thai Basil
Genovese Basil
Lettuce Leaf Basil
Lemon Basil
Green Shiso
Also, if you are a Pittsburgher there is a wonderful independent garden hidden in Edgewood with over 80 varieties of tomato plants, among many, many other options. I ended up buying 15 varieties. It's like going to the pound when I go to a garden center. I can't resist adopting all of the plants and taking care of them. It gets worse later in the season when they start to look sad.
Anyway, I'll report back later on how they did later on. Most of them just have tiny tomatoes right now.
I've got about 20 plants total; here is the list of varieties:
Sun Gold
Sun Sugar
Flaming Jaune
Taxi
Brandywine
Pineapple
Green Zebra
Cherokee Purple
Snow White
Great White
Jet Star
Super Sweet 100
Early Girl
Nebraska Wedding
Black Prince
Again, thanks! I'm wringing all I can out of my 1/16th acre farm.
posted by Alison at 8:00 AM on June 18, 2010 [4 favorites]
I'm transitioning from spring to summer crops right now, so I thought I would check in and let you know how everything in growing. I really want to thank everyone for their suggestions; I've been feeding my household for about a month on spring veggies. We're replacing some concrete, so I've had to move some of my beds and tear up the front yard for extra room. Still, I think I'm growing more than ever.
I couldn't find some of the suggestions above, or found them only sold in one place that wanted to charge an arm and a leg for shipping. Still, I purchased more than half and managed to get them while staying within my budget, though I am bummed about not having my own sunchokes.
Also, I couldn't get Tall Telephone peas or Oregon Giant peas, so instead I planted the fast maturing Alaska pea, and I couldn't be more pleased. The peas are tasty, fast-growing and prolific. I pull enough to make a meal nearly every day from a 2.5' by 2' plot. They're starting to die out now that it is getting hot, so the Romano Purpliat and Cherokee Trail of Tears pole beans I planted underneath are starting to take over.
Here's what I have planted Veggie-wise:
Sugarbaby Watermelon
Artichokes
Brussels Sprouts
White Queen Corn
Early and Often Corn
Zucchini Rampicante
Champagne Raspberries (still just a stick with leaves, though)
Huckleberry
Aunt Molly's Ground Cherry
Strawberries from a generous Mefite (Thanks!)
Oak Leaf Lettuce
Buttercrunch Lettuce
Japanese Mustard Greens
Swiss Chard
Alaska Peas
Romano Purpliat Bean
Cherokee Trail of Tears Pole Bean
Chiogga Beets
Boothe's Blonde Cucumber
Orient Express Cucumber
Dwarf Sunflowers
Garlic
Onions (red and yellow)
As for herbs:
Chives
Chocolate Mint
Spearmint
Peppermint
Lavender
Parsley
Cilantro
Thai Basil
Genovese Basil
Lettuce Leaf Basil
Lemon Basil
Green Shiso
Also, if you are a Pittsburgher there is a wonderful independent garden hidden in Edgewood with over 80 varieties of tomato plants, among many, many other options. I ended up buying 15 varieties. It's like going to the pound when I go to a garden center. I can't resist adopting all of the plants and taking care of them. It gets worse later in the season when they start to look sad.
Anyway, I'll report back later on how they did later on. Most of them just have tiny tomatoes right now.
I've got about 20 plants total; here is the list of varieties:
Sun Gold
Sun Sugar
Flaming Jaune
Taxi
Brandywine
Pineapple
Green Zebra
Cherokee Purple
Snow White
Great White
Jet Star
Super Sweet 100
Early Girl
Nebraska Wedding
Black Prince
Again, thanks! I'm wringing all I can out of my 1/16th acre farm.
posted by Alison at 8:00 AM on June 18, 2010 [4 favorites]
Response by poster: It's been almost a year since I posted this question and that is plenty of time to post a follow-up to name my garden all-stars. I ended up getting knocked up, so the weeds were kind of high in the late summer due to a lack of energy on my part, so some of my favorites ended up being the plants who could deal well with at least some neglect.
Best tomatoes:
Early Girl (fast and beats the bight)
Pineapple (beautiful and tasty)
Jaune Flamme (spectacular, prolific, great fresh or dried)
Sun Gold (sometimes too tart, but very generous)
Other Veggie favorites:
White Queen Corn (holy moly, fresh picked corn is sooo delicious; better than anything in a store or from a stand)
Mustard greens
Swiss Chard
Assorted Lettuce (pick a leaf and let it keep growing)
Cubanelle Peppers (Yummy and big)
Alaska Peas
Also:
Ground cherries (prolific, wonderful fresh or in a pie)
posted by Alison at 12:53 PM on January 2, 2011 [3 favorites]
Best tomatoes:
Early Girl (fast and beats the bight)
Pineapple (beautiful and tasty)
Jaune Flamme (spectacular, prolific, great fresh or dried)
Sun Gold (sometimes too tart, but very generous)
Other Veggie favorites:
White Queen Corn (holy moly, fresh picked corn is sooo delicious; better than anything in a store or from a stand)
Mustard greens
Swiss Chard
Assorted Lettuce (pick a leaf and let it keep growing)
Cubanelle Peppers (Yummy and big)
Alaska Peas
Also:
Ground cherries (prolific, wonderful fresh or in a pie)
posted by Alison at 12:53 PM on January 2, 2011 [3 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by schyler523 at 11:42 AM on January 14, 2010 [1 favorite]